The owners of a successful north-east catering company are opening their new delicatessen in a local town this summer.
Husband and wife Michael and Natalia McLeod began their careers in the catering industry in 2016, producing wood-fired pizzas for galas and festivals with their firm The Wandering Oven.
They produce cheese and treat-based boxes, platters and grazing tables.
Now Michael and Natalia are preparing to open their delicatessen, Wander and Graze – The Deli, which will offer up a range of quality local produce, cheese, cured meats, and much more.
It will be part of a larger development being worked on in the area, known as the Courtyard at Chapelton.
Natalia says the pair have always known they wanted to have their own space, whether it be a shop or not.
“In the last year or so, we really grew on the idea of having a retail space,” she added. “It seems like the next natural step for our business to grow.
“When we were delivering graze boxes throughout the pandemic, we quickly realised there was a high demand in the Chapelton area.
“There also aren’t any shops in the village yet and people were always talking about how much they wanted a shop.
“Michael and I soon put two and two together and knew Chapelton was the perfect place to set up shop.
“We live in the village so reached out to the Elsick development committee and told them about our idea and they got back in touch straight away and the ball started rolling from there.
“There will be lots of high-quality Scottish produce available at the delicatessen. The pair of us are very keen to use brands that we feel show off the best of what Scotland has to offer.
“There is an unbelievable amount of local produce to choose from so we really are very lucky.
“Our main offerings will be cheese, cured meats and other deli-style products such as olives, chutneys, crackers. We will also be stocking more everyday essential items such as milk, bread and eggs.
“Michael and I will also be working with local bakers who will be supplying us with cakes. We have a great coffee stockist for fresh bags of coffee and there will be fantastic vegan and gluten-free offerings too.
“Our pizzas will also be making a comeback. We will be announcing our brand new format later in the year.”
Michael and Natalia aim to be open in late summer. If plans change, they have assured they will be keeping their following updated on social media.
Natalia said: “Michael and I are very excited to move onto a bigger operation where we can take on more orders for platters and expand our offerings.
“We are also looking forward to getting to know our customers and more people in the local community.
“The pair of us are very happy to be able to offer some job opportunities too as we know many people have been hit with job losses due to the pandemic.
“Overall, we can’t wait to get back to business and to continue growing as a company.”